Superman - Our Man of Tomorrow

I have fond memories of watching the original two Christopher Reeve Superman movies from 1978 and 1980 when I was younger. I knew that I was seeing pop culture classics just from seeing Reeve's magnetic and charismatic performance as the Man of Steel and hearing John Williams' instantly iconic theme. Yet, even then, I could see they had their fair share of overly campy and logic-defying moments (i.e., spinning the Earth backwards to reverse time, carrying the American flag to drive home the point that Superman stands for "truth, justice, and the American way", and so on). That said, I have great admiration for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006) and do find parts of Superman Returns (2006) to be slightly underappreciated.

Side Note: For a more in-depth explanation of The Richard Donner Cut and its history, along with my thoughts on it, check out my review of Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021).

Fast-forward to 2025, and my memories of Superman come flooding back in the best possible way. Writer-director James Gunn's Superman (2025) meets our tumultuous social and cultural moment just as well as Richard Donner's iteration did in 1978. There will be some spoilers discussed ahead, but without further ado, on with the review.

Superman finds the titular Man of Tomorrow (played by David Corenswet) at a low point, both literally and figuratively. We first see him crash-land in Antarctica, bloodied and battered, with only enough energy to summon Krypto, a superpowered dog in a red cape like Superman's. After being tended to by his faithful autonomous robots at the Fortress of Solitude with a healthy dose of 'yellow sun' to reenergize him, Superman flies back into action to continue fighting a metahuman that calls themselves the "Hammer of Boravia", later revealed to be Ultraman, a Superman clone created by his billionaire arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (played by Nicholas Hoult), only to be defeated again. From there, Superman must deal with both the fallout from Luthor's smear campaign against his character and Superman's decision to intervene in an international conflict between two nations (one of which is described as an ally to and is funded by the United States Government). More on that later.

What I like most about this Superman movie is that James Gunn wisely skips the often-told origin story of Kal-El, his journey from Krypton to Earth, and his adoption by human parents, and instead starts right in the middle of the action. This iteration offers a fresher storytelling angle without bogging down audiences who want to get straight to business.

As most people familiar with Superman are aware, his human alter ego is Clark Kent, who works as a reporter at the Daily Planet. His girlfriend is fellow reporter Lois Lane (played by Rachel Brosnahan), a shrewd reporter and interviewer with plenty of wit and feistiness, with whom they share plenty of romantic chemistry akin to the onscreen chemistry shared by the late Christopher Reeve and the late Margot Kidder in the originals. Unlike prior films, this movie skips past her discovering his identity and goes straight to them being in a relationship for some time. This leads me to the film's most powerfully acted and directed scene, where Clark agrees to let Lois interview him as Superman, where she grills him on the geopolitical implications of his actions overseas, which he passionately defends by exclaiming, "People were going to die!" This moment is a perfect encapsulation of Superman's character, and I am so glad that this scene was included in the film. I was also very pleasantly surprised to see Lois actively come to save Superman, instead of the other way around, between the second and third acts, which shows a natural progression from her initial hesitation of having a relationship with Superman at the beginning to fully embracing him for who he is.

On the opposite side of the moral spectrum, there is Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, who excels as the evil billionaire Luthor is, and shares much in common with real-world oligarchs like Elon Musk with his money, tech bro assistants, political influence, and military contracts, Jeff Bezos' over-inflated ego and signature hair styling, and Steve Jobs' technological intelligence but with a messiah complex. Simultaneously, he shares some traits of previous Lex Luthors from past DC films: the youthful age of Jesse Eisenberg from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), the bitter hatred of Superman from Kevin Spacey's iteration from Superman Returns, and the late Gene Hackman's flagrant narcissism from the first two Superman films. Also, given the current oligarchic state of the world and this country, it is nice to see a billionaire, albeit a fictional one, face any consequences for his actions.

There are plenty of side characters in this film, but the most memorable standouts are members from the Justice Gang, like Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi), a superhero who heavily relies on his high-tech gadgets, Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (played by Nathan Fillion), a member of the Green Lantern Corps with a major attitude, and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (played by Isabela Merced), a winged superheroine weilding melee weapons with a teenage grumpiness. All three of these characters' unique personalities effectively give these shoehorned heroes enough purpose and world-building to justify them being in this slightly overstuffed movie. Aside from the Justice Gang, Jimmy Olsen (played by Skyler Gisondo), a young photographer at the Daily Planet, and Eve Teschmacher (played by Sara Sampaio), Lex Luthor's assistant and girlfriend, have an unusually adorable relationship, as she serves as Olsen's anonymous source for an investigative story on her boyfriend's actions, which I find to be a rather underrated aspect of the story.

The visual effects and action sequences for this film are as stellar as a 2025 Superman flick can be, and John Murphy and David Fleming's musical score, which incorporates John Williams' iconic theme from the 1978 version, does more than enough to elevate this film to make one believe that a man can fly in 2025. My favorite action sequences include the opening fight set at Metropolis between Superman and the "Hammer of Boravia", Mister Terrific's action scene where he shows off his gadgets on Lex Luthor's thugs (in an impressive one take), and the climactic finale where Superman battles Ultraman in an unstable pocket reality that simultaneously causes Metropolis to physically split in half, while the Justice Gang comes to the rescue of the people of Jarhanpur fending for themselves against the Boravian military. The most powerful scene is a group of Boravian children holding up a makeshift flag of Superman's logo and calling his name, which simultaneously serves as a symbolic symbol of hope and a cry for help from those under oppressive conditions and starvation around the world, and a not-so-subtle apology for the corny American flag scene from Superman II.

On that note, this Superman movie features an international conflict between two fictional nations, Boravia and Jarhanpur, with the former described as an ally to the United States, with Boravia's dictatorial leader and military actions supported and funded by both the U.S. Government and Lex Luthor. In addition, the leader of Boravia, Vasil Ghurkos (played by Zlatko Buric), shares several similarities with real-life world leaders like the United States' Donald Trump, his cartoonishly bad haircut and being surrounded by yes-men, the authoritarian nature of Hungary's Viktor Orbán, and the warmongering military actions of Russia's Vladimir Putin and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.

Not only does this plot point feel more relevant than ever, given Elon Musk's government contracts and political ties, and Israel's ongoing occupation of the Palestinians' land and genocide of its people, which gives this movie a thematic timeliness, but considering the countless moral and ethical lines being repeatedly and deliberately crossed by the United States in aiding and contributing to numerous human rights violations throughout history in the name of maintaining diplomacy with its neighboring countries, regardless of their illegal and immoral actions, these scenes both force the viewers to contemplate their roles and actions during these ongoing international crises, and renew their hope in the power of kindness and human decency.

If you have been feeling hopeless about the state of the world, consider watching this movie. It is not only therapeutic escapism, but a fun time at the movies and one of the better comic book/superhero movies in recent memory. Given this film's warm reception both critically and commercially, I have high hopes for James Gunn and his team to successfully introduce plenty of previously un-explored yet compelling stories and characters to a wider audience. Now, it's time for me to watch another good superhero film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), so stay tuned for that.

Final Score: 8 out of 10